


Smitten Kitten

by Minky-way (Cardgamesonmotorcycles)



Series: MizuSei Prompts [7]
Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Apartment AU, Cats, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, missing pet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-28 04:17:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5077483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cardgamesonmotorcycles/pseuds/Minky-way
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt Fill- Your cat keeps coming into my apartment and she's very cute but it's starting to get a bit ridiculous</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smitten Kitten

Sei blinked once, then twice, blankly staring at the very attractive man who stood in his doorway, suddenly becoming aware he’d been fixated on his chest slightly longer than was strictly appropriate for a stranger. He focused his eyes higher, suddenly realising there was a cat cuddled up in his arms and oh that was so cute his cheeks flushed pink and he had to resist making a noise that would accurately sum up the amazing aesthetic combination that was a hot guy holding a cute cat. Holding  _his_ , cute cat. What?

“Hi, um, is this your cat?” He spoke and Sei had to snap back into reality, reminding himself it wasn’t okay to ogle a stranger so much, especially one who for some reason had managed to find his cat, which had been missing since that morning.

He managed a smile, because the other looked so concerned at his almost creepy silence that he was immediately relieved he didn’t think he was some kind of lecherous pervert, which he honestly wasn’t, it was just that his shirt was  _very_  tight and his stomach was alarmingly well sculpted. “Yeah she is, where was she?”

“In my apartment,” he looked as bemused as Sei felt and his gaze turned onto his cat, who just purred absently as the other scratched her head, looking all too pleased despite her bad behaviour and gazing at him with pleased yellow eyes. “I think she got in through a window.”

“I am so sorry, I’ve been looking for her all morning,” he apologised immediately, because he knew that if a strange pet appeared in his apartment he’d be more than a little freaked out, not to mention that she didn’t have a collar so he wouldn’t even know where to return her. “You’re not allergic are you?”

“No, no,” he waved his concerns away with his one free hand, the other awkwardly embracing his cat who promptly squirmed and managed to wriggle free, leaping nimbly to the ground and disappearing back into his apartment. “It’s fine, I just wasn’t sure whose she was.”

“I know, I really need to get her a collar… Oh, I’m Sei by the way, and she’s snuffles.”

“Snuffles?” He asked, and his lips twitched up at the corner, looking distinctly amused as Sei flushed red at his cats honestly ridiculous name, but he didn’t get the chance to object or somehow try to justify himself before there was a hand proffered along with a name. “I’m Mizuki, in three.”

Luckily he wasn’t too distracted by his name to forget social norms, offering his hand normally enough and swallowing because his grip was firm and his hand was pleasantly warm against his, fingers calloused and rough where they slid across the back of his hand.

“I was just unpacking and she was hiding in one of my boxes,” he explained as he released Sei’s hand, gesturing with his thumb to his open apartment door where Sei could just about make out a stack of boxes and what looked like a lot of packing peanuts.

“She must have gone through the window, it won’t happen again.” He tried to assure him, because allergic to cats or not, having Snuffles infiltrating his apartment would grow less amusing and more irritating very fast, wondering just why she had chosen now to go wandering. “Did you just move in?”

“Mm-hm,” he nodded, and Sei supposed that explained his tired expression and the dampness of his shirt, as if he’d been lifting heavy boxes all day, trying immediately to wipe out that mental image. “Yeah this morning, there were loads of problems at my old place, so...”

“Oh,” he managed an uncomfortable smile, eyes flickering to the tattoos he could see on his exposed skin, the teardrop on his cheek that he was sure meant something, but he couldn’t work out what. Absently wondering if maybe he was involved in some sort of gang as he turned slightly and what looked like a gang sign on his bicep came into view, although anybody who’d have their face and neck tattooed wasn’t exactly likely to hold down a normal job. “Well it’s a nice building, so I’m sure you’ll fit right in.”

“Yeah me too, I work nearby too so that’s cool.” He nodded, and it was obvious the conversation had all but reached its end, neither entirely sure how to leave. “Do you have any other cats?”

He shook his head, feeling something rubbing his legs and not even needing to look down to know Snuffles was back and demanding attention, “nah, I was thinking about it but I’m not really meant to have her, there’s a no pets rule but the landlord let me off as long as she behaved well.”

“Ah that’s pretty cool,” he nodded thoughtfully, wondering absently if the landlord would be as relaxed if he got a snake or some kind of lizard, figuring the answer to that was probably pretty damn obviously a no. “Don’t worry, I won’t report you or anything, I was just a bit surprised when I went to grab a jacket and there was a cat there.”

He chuckled at that, well, it was slightly more like a giggle to be truthful and Mizuki’s lip twitched up involuntarily, “mm, I can imagine. Well… Thanks for finding her, I guess. Um, I should let you get back to unpacking, but if you need anything, you know, just knock.”

“Alright, cool, thanks Sei,” his smile was warm as he crouched down for a second to apparently give his temporary lodger a quick fuss with tanned fingers, managing to ignore the way she nudged her head into his palm as he made to draw away. “See you round, Snuffles.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Is my cat in your apartment?” He spoke abruptly, the moment the door opened and Mizuki was only mildly taken aback, frowning immediately because the other looked distinctly stressed out, fingers twisting anxiously in front of him,

“Um… I don’t think so. Has she gone missing?”

“Mm, I wasn’t home last night and she hasn’t eaten her food and I can’t find her anywhere, I thought maybe…” He trailed off, because it was obvious what he’d thought, and although Mizuki was certain Snuffles wasn’t in his apartment, if checking would make Sei feel a little better he didn’t really mind.

“She could be hiding under something I guess, come in and I’ll have a look. Oh, it’s kind of a mess too, I’m still trying to work out where to put stuff.” He smiled apologetically as Sei just nodded and offered him a grateful expression, nibbling at his lip and arms wrapped around himself nervously as he entered, eyes flickering round curiously.

Boxes in varying stages of being emptied were stacked all over the floor and the sofa was taken up with what seemed to be his entire wardrobe, actual item of furniture in the middle of being constructed in the small amount of space left empty. It was laid out the same way as Sei’s apartment, as he’d expected, just flipped round so everything seemed backwards, the kitchen looked the most in order, stacks of crockery in the glass-fronted cabinets and a fancy coffee maker resting next to a very expensive looking red microwave.

“I’d tell you to sit down but…” He just smiled sheepishly, gesturing to the large corner couch, plush red material completely unusable unless Sei shoved all his clothes out of the way, which he didn’t plan on doing.

“Its fine,” he shook his head, because his comfort was secondary to finding Snuffles, her lack of presence in his apartment that morning having induced an alarmed search of his apartment, a mildly hysterical phone call to his brother and a panic attack before he even thought of asking Mizuki.

“If she is here she’ll be easy to find, there’s not many places to hide,” he spoke as he began looking in the opened boxes, moving things around and coming up blank as he walked over to the kitchen, peering through the half-wall that connected it to the living room and frowning. “Unless she’s like… in the bath or something.”

Sei shook his head, following the other through his apartment with no thoughts of how rude he might be coming across, just wandering into his bedroom as if that wasn’t an invasion of privacy and watching as he moved red curtains to check the windowsill. “She won’t be in the bathroom she hates it, she fell into my bath once and now she won’t even go in.”

“While you were in there?” Mizuki asked, looking distinctly amused as he crouched down to look under his bed, pulling out something red that looked remarkably like a pair of boxers and throwing them into the corner of the room with an uncomfortable clearing of this throat.

“Mm, she scratched all up my arm,” he could still remember it now, she had decided that the moment Sei got into the bath she wanted cuddles, wandering into the room and jumping onto the tubs edge easily, not aware it would be wet and falling straight into the bubbly water. She, of course, immediately freaked out, yowling and scrabbling vainly at the edge to try and escape, panic overcoming her and clawing at Sei’s arm even as he tried to help her get out because the last thing he’d planned was to share his relaxing bath with his panicking cat.

He inhaled a sympathetic hiss through his teeth, “nasty.”

Sei didn’t respond, just watched as the tattooed man moved a pile of empty boxes out of the way, coming up blank again and growing more anxious as each room came up blank, real fear setting in when both the bathroom and gym were empty too, feeling sick as they ended up in his living room again.

Oh,” Mizuki’s voice was surprised and Sei’s heart leaped in hope as he followed his eye line to the kitchen counters where Snuffles sat, quite comfortably and eating… Something. “There goes my bacon sandwich.”

Aside from his mortification at his cat’s sudden rebellion, he felt overwhelming relief as he promptly crossed the room to swat her off the sandwich of which he had spoken with a scolding expression. “Snuffles, what are you doing?” He ignored her dissatisfaction and gathered her into his arms immediately, planting kisses into her fur and nuzzling her side because he was just so relieved she was okay. “You scared the life out of me, you stupid cat!” He almost felt like he might cry the relief was that strong, sniffing loudly and just managing an exasperated smile as she licked at his fingers, most likely because they just smelt like bacon.

“She’s a little shit, huh?” Mizuki was suddenly beside them and regarding Snuffles with the same frustrated expression as Sei, trying to be annoyed but not really managing because she was really cute when she wanted to be.

“She never used to be… She used to be really well behaved, she’s never done anything like this before,” that was why it was so alarming when he got home and she wasn’t there, because she always ran to meet him at the door, and finding out she hadn’t eaten her food like the greedy thing she was just scared him.

“Hm, must be my bad influence,” he was joking, but Sei looked suddenly alarmed and he immediately regretted saying anything.

“I am  _so_  sorry you have to put up with this, it must be really annoying, and she ate your food oh god… She knows better than that.” His growing guilt wasn’t exactly nice to watch and Mizuki was wondering how to calm him down before he exploded from shame at his cat’s behaviour, which quite frankly he didn’t actually mind, it was kinda funny to be truthful. “Just… She’ll stop I promise just please don’t report me or I won’t be able to keep her.”

“Sei!” He looked remarkably like he might either cry or throw up, and he didn’t really want to have to deal with either, especially not with his new carpets, clamping a firm hand on his shoulder and snapping his attention back to him. “Relax, its fine.”

“But… She ate your sandwich.” He complained weakly, trying to express how bad he felt that Mizuki had to deal with his cat related stresses again, having already returned his smug cat to him at least twice that week, stressing how okay it was each time.

“To be honest, it’s been on the side a while, I probably wouldn’t have eaten it anyway,” he explained, because he’d made it several hours ago then gotten distracted unpacking, in fact he’d completely forgotten about it until he saw Snuffles happily digging into it. “It won’t make her sick, will it?”

“Nah, she’ll be fine. Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“Sei, I really don’t mind. It’s kinda nice having her about the place, and I don’t know anybody else here yet except you, so she gives me an excuse to talk to you.”

He smiled at that, because he supposed it was true, but he still wasn’t sure he thought it was as okay as Mizuki was making it out to be. “Okay, but you don’t need an excuse.”

“Mm, I guess not.” He replied, suddenly moving back as Snuffles made her second escape of the day, running out of his open apartment door and into the hallway in the opposite direction of Sei’s apartment, watching with amusement as her owner promptly turned on his heel and ran out of the apartment to try and grab her before she got into more trouble. He allowed himself a chuckle and an eye roll because it was almost like living in a comedy sketch, jumping as the black haired head popped back into his door frame.

“Thank you! Sorry!” Then he was gone again after his asshole of a cat and Mizuki was left to inspect the remains of his bacon sandwich with only a little sorrow, making a mental note to not leave food out anymore.

 

* * *

 

“Its official, my cat is going through teenage rebellion,” he remarked as he opened the door once more to find his neighbour holding his cat with an amused grin and fingers idly petting the long black fur.

He laughed at that, obviously very amused by the idea, but not dismissing it because if Sei was to be believed, his cat had been perfectly behaved until he came along and she went mental, escaping to Mizuki’s apartment every other day and hiding until the bartender came across him with little surprise. “Must be it, she was hiding in my clean washing.”

“She didn’t shed on it, did she?” He was alarmed again, as he always was, maybe imagining some sort of horrific scenario where Mizuki couldn’t deal with it anymore, reported him and got his beloved cat taken away, when the reality couldn’t be further from that.

“A little, but it was a dark load so you can’t really tell,” he shrugged, wondering if maybe the attention he gave Snuffles when she arrived in his apartment really helped to teach her not to invade his space, deciding he didn’t care and stroking her vibrating belly. “Maybe she’ll come back next time with her nose pierced.”

“Or a tattoo,” Sei continued along the joke, eyes flickering over the almost pretty design on his neck, wondering not for the first time if he was inked anywhere else but knowing it might be odd to ask, curious though he was.

“Hm, I could do it for her,” he spoke like he was offering, and Sei tilted his head to the side, watching as Snuffles twisted in his arms to expose her soft belly for rubbing, purring contentedly like the little shit she was being lately.

“You do tattoos?”

“Sure do, my studio’s just round the corner, it’s a bar too,” he explained, gesturing extremely vaguely with his thumb as if trying to point out the exact location of what sounded like his self-owned business. “Black Needle.”

“Oh, yeah I think I’ve walked past there. That’s pretty cool.”

“Glad you think so, but um, yeah, my shift starts in like twenty minutes so…” He explained, nodding down to the cat in his arms and letting the situation explain itself, smiling as Sei jolted into realisation and took his cat back rather sloppily.

“Oh! Yeah, sorry, thanks for bringing her back.”

“It’s no problem, she seems happy with either of us to be honest.”

“That’s true, you’re a little pest, aren’t you?” He asked, but he was smiling at Snuffles so Mizuki knew he didn’t entirely mean it, although he was pretty much completely correct.

“A little pest who needs to stop going into other people’s apartments before they get sick of her,” he remarked, trying to scold her even as she pawed at his chin in a way that was so cute he knew he’d never be angry even if she started going into Mizuki’s apartment every day. “I’m surprised you’re still putting up with her doing this.”

“Mm,” he murmured noncommittally, stroking the velvety skin of Snuffles nose. “Well you’re cute so I can deal with it.”

“Hm,” he chuckled at that, scratching under her chin and enjoying her purring, eyes closing lazily as he fussed her. “See, at least somebody thinks you’re cute.”

“Actually, I was talking about you.”

He almost dropped her, eyes flitting upwards and a displeased hiss coming from the squirming lump of warm fur in his arms, face twisting in alarm as she promptly decided to climb up his shoulder and use his chin as a footrest. Managing a sheepish and extremely breathy laugh as she finally leapt down to the ground and disappeared somewhere behind him, knowing the other was getting great amusement from his flustered disposition. “Oh, um…” He tried to laugh again, almost tempted to pinch himself and see if he was dreaming because the hunky guy from across the hall had just called him cute and this was such a cliché but he didn’t even care. “So you don’t think my cat’s cute?”

This time he laughed, rich and warm, trickling down Sei’s spine pleasantly and settling in the bowl of his hips, “no, she is too.”

He didn’t know what to reply, aware he was painfully red in the face and hands feeling useless now they didn’t have a cat to occupy them, glad of the distraction when Mizuki’s coil rang and they both jumped, the other answering with a rather strained voice.

“Tio? Oh shit really?” He listened for a moment then checked his watch and pulled a significantly alarmed face, darting into his apartment to grab a jacket and locking the door behind him. “Yeah I’m about to leave,” he spoke into the device, smiling sheepishly at Sei, obviously apologising for the interruption, pausing while the other spoke. “Yeah, no I’m just talking to Sei… Yeah, the guy with the cat.”

He laughed at that, and Snuffles meowed in agreement, just nodding understandingly as Mizuki moved the phone away from his face, mouthing that he needed to go and waving his goodbye as he all but jogged down the hallway, leaving Sei to try and calm down his red cheeks because  _Mizuki thought he was cute._

 

* * *

 

 

“She’s not in there, I’ve double checked, are you sure she isn’t just hiding in yours somewhere?” His expression was apologetic, because he really wished Snuffles had been in his somewhere so he wouldn’t have to see Sei look so damn distressed, dark circles under his eyes and biting at his fingernails distractedly as he shook his head insistently.

“No I know she isn’t, I tried putting out treats and stuff… She’s just gone!”

“Okay, okay, calm down, have you asked your other neighbors?”

“Um, no, not yet.” To be honest he hadn’t even thought about it, he’d been hoping she would just be in Mizuki’s like normal, now that she wasn’t he felt more than a little sick, imagining her somewhere, scared and hungry.

“I’ll help you, you take the bottom two floors and I’ll take three and four, I doubt she’ll have gotten higher than that.” It was unlikely she’d even left their floor to be honest, especially since the stairwells were closed off with doors at each end, though they were sometimes left propped open by people with shopping to carry up. He was nodding, but his skin was even paler than usual and Mizuki was honestly concerned he might pass out, offering him a reassuring smile and reaching out to take his fingers out of his mouth before he made himself bleed. “We’ll find her, okay?”

“Okay,” he took a deep breath, squeezing Mizuki’s fingers weakly in the second before he released them and managing a more believable smile as they spilt up, Mizuki jogging up the stairs to inquire about Snuffles and Sei walking to the apartment next to his.

 

* * *

 

 

“Any luck?” Mizuki asked, returning to the ground floor to find his neighbor looking even more distressed, knowing as he asked that he obviously still hadn’t found Snuffles and pausing in alarm as he removed his head from his hands and he noticed the tear tracks on his cheeks.

“No,” he sniffled rather pathetically and wiped his nose, arms wrapped tight around his waist and lip twisting in alarm even as he nodded to his neighbors flat. “Um, she said she saw her yesterday, by… By the underpass. But why would she be there she hates being away from home? She’s right by the big road… Wha-What if she gets hit by a car or… Or something happens to her?!”

His voice had broken and his hand was over his mouth as he began crying again and Mizuki suddenly realised he must have been stood waiting for him this entire time, having already known about Snuffles since he knocked on his first door. While Mizuki had been two floors away asking people who would probably have no useful information anyway and leaving him to be upset, feeling remarkably guilty and wishing the stupid fucking cat was just in his apartment.

“Sei…” His voice trailed off and he sighed because he was out of his depth now, he’d known Sei got rather panicked whenever his cat disappeared, and whether that was just an issue of attachment or an actual problem with his nerves, he didn’t know, but seeing him this distraught was horrible. “Look, don’t cry… We’ll find her.”

“But wha-What if we don’t?! I can’t lose her, she… She’ll be  _so_  scared!” His shoulders were shaking and Mizuki hated seeing him so upset, not knowing what to do other than try and comfort him the only way he knew, wrapping an arm round his neck and pulling him into an awkward half hug.

“Stop talking like that, okay? You’re making yourself more upset.” His tone was firm and as sympathetic as he was, he knew that focusing on the negatives wouldn’t help him at all, he’d just work himself up and get even more anxious. “I’ll go look for her while you make posters, and we can do everything we can to find her, okay?”

“N-No, you don’t have to, I can do it, you’ve already helped enough you don’t-“ He began, trying to object to the bartenders help even though he had already decided he’d help Sei find her again, having grown rather attached to the feline himself.

“No, come on, we’re… Friends, right?” He was uncertain as he spoke, because they weren’t necessarily really friends as such, but he figured they could be considered friends in this situation, and if that meant Sei would relent and let him help, then that was okay.

“Mm,” Sei agreed almost straight away, sniffing but wiping his eyes with an already damp sleeve and nodding slowly, dark eyes looking up at Mizuki and God how was he still cute even when he was crying.

“So it’s fine, I’ll go have a look and ask if anybody’s seen her and you can print off posters with her picture and your number and stuff, okay?”

“If you’re sure..?”

“Yes, go, you’ve got a printer right?” Sei nodded, and Mizuki was relieved about that, although he supposed he would have let him use his if he hadn’t. “And pictures of her?”

“Loads.” He smiled weakly at that, and Mizuki could just imagine how many he must have, knowing he adored her more than anything and certain he’d be the type to take photographs as often as he could.

“Okay, so go do that and I’ll go looking, if I find her I’ll let you know, okay?” He was about to leave, releasing Sei’s shoulder and relieved to see he looked more composed now, if only a little, spinning back on his heel a second later. “I, uh, don’t have your number.”

“Hm? Oh!” His face turned from confusion to realisation in a second, and the way his nose crinkled was very cute, holding up his coil and letting Mizuki connect them so their numbers exchanged, beeping in success a second later. “Thank you, Mizuki, really.”

“It’s fine, now go,” he gave him a small push and he exhaled a shaky laugh as he just nodded weakly and headed back into his apartment, Mizuki bracing himself for more tears when he returned empty handed, as he knew was most likely. He just prayed she was okay and had gotten lost somewhere, he wouldn’t know what to do if she was dead, as Sei so feared.

 

* * *

 

 

“No sign?” He asked, and his expression was still creased with worry lines that Mizuki suddenly realised he wanted to smooth out with his thumb, restraining himself and picking up one of the ‘missing cat’ posters instead.

“No, I asked but nobody has seen her,” he shook his head, taking in the understanding nod he received and the long sigh making his frown deepen. “She might come back by herself when she gets hungry.”

“Yeah, maybe,” but it was obvious he didn’t believe it any more than Mizuki did, just picking up a stapler and an unnecessarily large looking wad of posters. “I need to put these up.”

“Mm, I’ll put one in my bar, I get lots of customers, one of them is bound to have seen her.”

“Okay,” his voice was small as he pulled on a jacket and Mizuki got the message that he should leave, though he didn’t feel very good about leaving Sei in this state, just watching as he locked the door.

“Here,” he’d spoken up before he meant to, reaching for the posters he clutched in scarily white hands, shaking just slightly more than normal but definitely enough to be worrying. “Let me help, it’ll be faster that way.”

He regarded him for a second with watery black eyes, before nodding and managing a grateful smile, not reassuring him it was okay this time and instead silently handing him half of the posters, setting off in silence.

 

* * *

 

Mizuki got into the habit of knocking on Sei’s door every day, always inquiring as to whether there had been any news, always greeted with a shake of the head and an increasingly hopeless expression. He was taking it hard and it was obvious, he even seemed to have lost weight, presumably too worried to eat and seeming paler every time he saw him, refusing his offers of company and totally isolating himself in his apartment.

So when the two week mark passed, it was obvious he’d given up looking now, certain she must be dead or not coming back, answering the door with wet cheeks and huge bags under his eyes. Answering even before he asked and promptly slamming the door in his face, leaving him to go into work feeling guilty and more than a little worried about him, wishing he knew where that stupid cat was.

* * *

 

 

“Um, Mizuki,” Tio’s voice was remarkably confused and the bartender poked his head through the door to see what the problem could be, because surely restocking the fridges was easy enough, dropping his mug at the sight of the squirming ball of fluff that was perched, quite comfortably on his friends back. “Slight problem.”

“Snuffles!” If Tio was alarmed at the sudden yell it wasn’t obvious, just raising his eyebrows and wondering if everybody had gone mad even as Mizuki scooped up the significantly heavy cat that had been trying to nap on him. “Where have you been? Sei’s been worried sick!”

Tio blinked as he eased himself upright and rubbed his back absently, looking between Mizuki and the cat before something clicked in his brain and his mouth opened in realisation, “oh! This is your neighbor's cat, the cute one.”

“Sei,” he corrected quickly, not entirely sure he liked the fact that Tio only knew him as his cute neighbor, maybe he should have kept his observations of him more neutral instead of making it so obvious he was crushing on him more than a little. “And yeah, it’s been like two weeks now... Where’ve you been, hm?”

“Somebody’s been looking after her…” Tio remarked, scratching at her chin and making a small pleased noise as she nuzzled into his palm. He was right, Snuffles didn’t seem any thinner or dirtier, in fact she looked completely fine, coat glossy as always and seemingly unaware of how much she had worried everyone around her as she purred happily in the bartender’s arms. “He’ll be relieved to get her back, I imagine he was worried.”

“Heartbroken more like,” and it still hurt now to think of him crying, terrified something horrible had happened to her or that they’d find her body, remarking at least once that she was all he had, something that struck the bartender wrong. “I need to tell him, he’ll be ecstatic.”

“Maybe there’ll even be a reward…” It was obvious Tio was implying something as he waggled his eyebrows and Mizuki laughed, because seeing Sei happy again would be reward enough for him, without whatever sexual exploits Tio might be thinking of.

“I’ll take her over now, will you be-?”

He was cut off before he could even finish with a dismissive wave, because of course Tio could manage by himself, and keeping Snuffles in the bar could end in chaos or her escaping again. “Yeah, yeah, take the cat, if you don’t come back I’ll know what happened,” his grin was teasing and Mizuki knew he wasn’t serious, rolling his eyes at him in mock disgust as he adjusted the vibrating fuzz in his arms and set off to the apartment block just a couple of streets over.

* * *

 

 

He was almost squirming with excitement as he knocked on the door, with some difficulty given that Snuffles was an attention seeking asshole who insisted on having one hand stroking her at all times, but he managed. He was stood there for nearly five minutes, and was just debating knocking again when it swung open suddenly and Snuffles attempted to escape via his face, paw scratching his nose as she launched herself to the ground nimbly. Sei’s eyes were red and puffy and Mizuki knew he’d been crying again even as they landed on Snuffles who purred incessantly as she wound herself around his legs, tail wrapping round his ankle.

He promptly burst into tears and Mizuki was so taken aback he almost wondered if there was still something wrong, watching as Sei sank onto the floor and pulled Snuffles into his arms, cat more than happy to comply and nuzzling into every inch of his face and neck. It would be almost unbearably cute if Sei wasn’t crying into her fur, laughing even as she licked at his tears absently and wormed around in his lap like an overexcited child in a ball pit. He sniffed loudly and wiped his nose on his sleeve, planting kisses onto her long fur and chuckling wetly as she refused to calm down, squirming into him constantly and nudging at his hands for strokes.

Mizuki assumed he wouldn’t be getting up for a while, not just because Snuffles wouldn’t move, but because he seemed perfectly content on the floor with his beloved cat close to him, shifting to kneel on the floor next to him, figuring he’d keep him company if nothing else.

“She was in my bar, climbing on my friend.” He figured he needed an explanation, it was funny in all honesty, that she had come back to him of all people, first invading his apartment, then his bar and acting as if it was all acceptable behavior.

“I was so worried about you!” This he addressed to the cat who was sat in between his legs and seemingly planned on not moving, turning his eyes to meet Mizuki’s instantly and almost glowing with gratitude that was making him smile in mild embarrassment, because really, all he did was find his cat, again. “Thank you so much! I was  _so_  scared she was hurt, I’m so grateful honestly I… Oh I could kiss you!”

It only took him a second to recover from the surprise at that, cheeks flushed a dusky pink and smiling in amusement as Sei realised what he’d said and turned beetroot red, “you could.”

“Ah…” He breathed in embarrassment, cheeks a very fetching shade of pink and still fussing the squirming cat on his lap who promptly turned round to rest tiny paws on the bartenders chest and insist Mizuki stroke her too, complying easily because she was an asshole, but a cute one. “I don’t think she wants me to.”

“Hm,” he nodded, not sure if that meant Sei actually didn’t want to, or if the cat was genuinely in the way. “Pity.”

* * *

 

 

It was a pity, a pretty big one, but of course when he woke up two days later and rolled over to see a black lump on his pillow all he did was chuckle sleepily, allowing her to snuggle into his chest and deciding he could afford five minutes more sleep. But then he had to return her to Sei, as always, thinking to himself that they may as well co-own her with how frequently she appeared in his apartment, still not certain how she got in but assuming she wiggled through the broken vent shaft in the hallway.

But his five minutes of sleep turned into half an hour, and a knock on the door woke him up, glaring groggily at the clock and cursing as he realised what had happened, blaming the warm puff lying on his stomach as if she belonged there. Scooping her into his arms and ignoring the displeased noise she made at being awoken, expecting it to be Sei and being correct, opening the door and wiping sleepy dust out of his eyes, still half asleep and only realising as a cold breeze washed over him that he was clad only in his sweatpants.

“Huh,” Sei’s opening noise was more surprised than anything else, quickly taking in the image and trying to fight the pink of his cheeks because it was a damn nice image, Snuffles just making it even more perfect as she rested against his firm chest. “Cute.”

Mizuki’s embarrassment only grew as Snuffles climbed onto his shoulder, flopping over it as if she didn’t realise she was rather too large for that, entire chest exposed now and feeling extremely self-conscious as Sei just raised an amused eyebrow at him.

“I um, brought over some baking, to say thanks for finding her. Didn’t know she was actually here though,” he smiled, looking even more amused as Snuffles escaped into the apartment behind them and there was an alarming ripping noise.

“Oh God,” Mizuki remarked, panic setting in because not only had he answered the door to Sei half-naked, now his damn cat was destroying the place, locating her buried in a pile that had been his pyjama shirt. But he pulled it on anyway, only torn a little on one sleeve, deciding he’d rather be covered up than completely bare because he could still feel those dark eyes on his back and it made his cheeks pink. He heard the apartment door shut and assumed Sei had entered, turning to face him and smiling sheepishly, watching as Snuffles stretched out on his sofa and flopped back down again. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

“I baked, to say thank you for finding her,” he smiled, holding up a tub of what sounded like cookies and crossing the room to place them on his kitchen counter, bartender following him and trying not to think of how domestic this was.

“Oh,” he blinked, because he hadn’t expected any kind of thank you, he hadn’t exactly gone to any effort to find her, in fact she had found him, or Tio more specifically. “Well thanks, but you don’t need to thank me, I didn’t really do-“

But there was a finger on his lips and he ground to a halt, taking in Sei’s stern expression for a second and watching as it softened, eyebrows lowering and hand shifting onto his jaw instead as he stretched up on tiptoe to kiss him. His lips were soft and he tasted like coffee and vanilla, smell even better up close and warm where Mizuki’s palm moved to rest on his hip because he had no idea what was going on but he was kissing back and felt pretty damn happy about it.

“Thank you,” his voice was soft when he moved away, laughing breathily as Mizuki’s cheeks rapidly turned from pink to red and he stammered his response stupidly, glad of the distraction Snuffles provided as she wormed between them and mewed up at them. “Seriously.”

He bent down to pick up the interfering feline and Mizuki had time to think, trying to school his expression to something other than ridiculously pleased as he spoke, thinking that this was how he should have done things in the first place. “Coffee?”

"Sure," Sei nodded, biting his lip and own cheeks a dusky rose colour that Mizuki thought was all too fetching against his pale skin, clearly just as smitten as he was, idly thinking he owed this all to Snuffles, not entirely sure he appreciated the fact he’d needed an animal helper, like some Disney princess.


End file.
